eBiz Tomorrow by Chris Salazar

Just keeping up on GREEN companies, here’s a second look on other companies that are doing their part!

1). SC Johnson, January 2008

http://www.scjohnson.com/environment/default.asp

SC Johnson is committed to going and staying green by introducing five new key initiatives: growing greener products, conserving critical resources, preventing dangerous diseases, creating strong communities, and doing your part. However, what is most impressive is there “Greenlist” test that is used for over 95% of the materials they use. Using a scale from 0 (unacceptable) to 3 (best), they are limiting their use of products that are not environmentally-friendly. Not only do they stand by the quality of their products, but each product has been tested thoroughly to government standards.

2). Best Buy, June 2008

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9957196-7.html

Best Buy is now recycling unused electronics for free. Although there is a limit to two per customer per day, this is an important program for their customers. There is some restrictions on the items brought in (usually because of height and weight), but the vast majority of everyday electronics are excepted such as: computers, cell phones, printers, and etc. Other retails offer similar programs, but there is often a fee associated for recycling such items.

3). HP, May 2008

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9949716-7.html

Not only does HP offer recycled paper for printing, but particular products are made of recycled plastic. For example, the plastic on the HP D2545 printer is made from 83% recycled material. This is the first step for HP as they will look into creating other products with recycled material, especially since HP recycles a great deal of material each year. In fact, they have made the commitment that by 2010, 100% of the desktop printers available for sale will be made by recycled material.

4). Marriott, April 2008

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/datbus/article.php/3739896/For+Marriott,+Green+IT+is+Reality,+Not+Hype.htm

With rising utility costs, the Marriott IT team is looking to find more “green” ways to run business. They are now known as one of the top 12 green firms in the country and are still making progress. Just to highlight a few things, they have virtualized about 40 percent of their servers and 75 percent of their storage area networks. All older machines, some 20 years or more, are being replaced by more energy efficient units that cost less to maintain and run. In addition, they are replaced over 10,000 laptops and intend to continue this during their 3-year green initiative.

5). Verizon Wireless, February 2008

IDC named Verizon Wireless as one of the top green companies. One example of their green initiative is the “green” bill, which makes all account information and bills available online, which drastically saves energy, paper, and mailing processes. In addition, in all of their call centers they are reducing consumption and cooling costs by close to 63% as a result of the green bill. They have also rolled out a new software that reduces the amount of PC power consumption and CO2 emissions by close to 25%. They are now pursuing virtualization technology in their data centers as well as new servers and power plants.

Green is and has been a hot topic for a while.  In fact, one of my good friends told me that he wouldn’t go back to school for an MBA in Business, but rather he’d go get a “Green” degree.  He’s right…its the future and its here to stay. 

This inspired me to go out and look at current companies who are making efforts to go green.  Take a look at the list below:

1) Fox Broadcasting Company, April 16th, 2008.
http://www.fox.com/earthday/

            Fox joined with their stars to deliver a new “green” tip each day in the month of April up to Earth Day.  Various Fox stars provided their own tips on how to take simple actions now to be green and make the planet a better place to live.  Some examples of the tips are: “Electronic payments can make a difference,” “Careful what you pour down the drain,” and “Always recycle your batteries.”  More information and to see the archived green videos, visit: http://fox61.trb.com/news/environment/stv-fox-greenit-meanit-1,0,1998661.htmlstory

2) Arrowhead Water Company, 2008.  http://www.arrowheadwater.com/DoingOurPart/EcoShapeBottle.aspx

            Arrowhead has created a new eco-shape bottle that uses 30% less plastic and has a 30% smaller label.  This is now the lightest water bottle ever created and as a result it’s easier to carry, easier to recycle, and each bottle requires a smaller amount of energy to be produced.  All of these new improvements help improve environmental efficiencies in creating the bottle, using it, and recycling it. 

3) Macy’s Department Store, April 12^th, 2008.
 http://www.macys.com

            Macy’s has made an effort to go green by creating recyclable shopping bags with non-laminated paper.  Compared to their previous bags that were not recyclable, the new bags are now made out of 30% recycled material and are 100% recyclable.  This is a big improvement for Macy’s who uses 43 million shopping bags per year.  In addition, they are offering reusable tote bags for a price, which also helps limit the number of bags used.  Macy’s will also be sure to use recyclable paper for gift wrapping by producing these from ingredients that are biodegradable.  More information can be found here: http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2008/04/14/daily47.html?ana=from_rss

4) Staples, January 2008
http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/ecoeasy/happy_fun_place.html

            Staples has created a big initiative for becoming a “green” company by devoting a section of their website to green products.  This specific section of their website sells only green products, so customers can feel confident that they are contributing to helping the environment.  In fact, their green product line is quite extensive with several products ranging from recycled paper to energy saving technology.  In addition, on the green homepage, they list the number of trees Staple’s customers have saved just by buying the green products; the total is now 526k+ trees and this number increases by 1 tree every minute.  

5) Whole Foods, January 2008
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/byobag/

            Whole Foods has shown their devotion to helping the environment by asking their customers to either buy a disposable bag or bring any bag from home (paper, plastic, backpacks, etc) to put their groceries in, which the customer will receive a five cents credit per bag.  Their goal was to eliminate the use of disposable plastic bag by Earth Day with their BYOB (bring your own bag) initiative.  In the month of January, this plan already started seeing results as they used half as many bags compared to the same time last year.  So instead of the paper vs plastic question, they are pushing the new concept of “reuse” bags. 

What am I missing?  There’s gotta be other great companies doing their part too.  Please let me know.